23% of Singapore's wealthy plan to move abroad in next 5 years: Survey

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i will miss them..:o



TITLE: 23% of Singapore's wealthy plan to move abroad in next 5 years: Survey

POSTED: 15 Sep 2014 22:45
URL: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/....html?cid=FBSG

However, the Barclays Wealth Insights survey says Singapore itself has become increasingly recognised as an migration hotspot for wealthy individuals from other countries.
SINGAPORE: A new survey reports that 23 per cent of Singapore's wealthy are planning to move abroad in the next five years. This is according to findings released on Monday (Sep 15) by Barclays Wealth Insights, which surveyed more than 2,000 high net worth individuals (HNWIs) from 17 countries. All respondents had more than USS$1.5 million in total net worth.

WHY THE WEALTHY MOVE

The Barclays report said the prospect of securing and growing their assets could be one reason that prompts the ultra-wealthy to move. A growing proportion of HNWIs earn their wealth through entrepreneurship, rather than inheritance - more than 750 of the survey's respondents identified themselves as entrepreneurs. Barclays suggested that these HNWIs believe they need an international outlook to grow their wealth.

By the end of 2014, Asia is set to become the largest regional market by the number of millionaires. This means a new generation of HNWIs from this region are keen to expose their children to other parts of the world, the report said.

Mr Jean-Francois Harvey, Managing Partner of Harvey Law Group, told Barclays that the practical needs of the wealthy tend to outweigh the strength of emotional ties when it comes to migrating. Despite an initial reluctance to leave their home countries, "once the process has started, they show no concern (about leaving) and they never talk about it anymore”, he said of his Asian clients.



Still, Barclays reported that Singapore has become increasingly entrenched as a destination for migrating HNWIs, along with Australia, the United States and Britain. For example, the survey found that 44 per cent of Hong Kong’s wealthy who planned to move abroad named Singapore as their destination.

Singapore has also been one of the preferred spots for the majority of wealthy emigrants from China over the past decade. Mr Liam Bailey, Head of Residential Research at global real estate consultancy Knight Frank, told Barclays: “The reality is that most ultra-high net worth individuals in China are probably making money in China right now. So, for business reasons, they need to be relatively close — that might prevent some of them going further afield.”

These hotspots for wealthy immigrants share traits such as “buoyant property markets, luxury hospitality and leisure offerings, an abundance of international wealth management advisers, and a relative degree of political stability”, the survey stated. Globalisation and mobility expert James Faulconbridge told Barclays: “Certain cities have become parts of that circuit and the places to be seen in where the events and the lifestyle plays out.”

- CNA/AFP/xy


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